Northeast Ohio seems to be something of a hotbed when it comes to ethical behavior in business practices.
The Ethisphere Institute since 2007 has produced an annual list of companies around the world that “truly go beyond making statements about doing business 'ethically' and translate those words into action.” This year's list has a record 145 companies, and five of them are based in Northeast Ohio.
Making the cut are the Cleveland Clinic, Eaton Corp., Progressive Corp., Sherwin-Williams Co. and Timken Co.
The institute says the winning companies “not only promote ethical business standards and practices internally, they exceed legal compliance minimums and shape future industry standards by introducing best practices today.”
You can check out the methodology here. The institute evaluates companies based on five categories: ethics and compliance programs; reputation, leadership and innovation; governance; corporate citizenship and responsibility; and culture of ethics.

This and that

Speaking of the Cleveland Clinic …:This three-minute Bloomberg video highlights the Cleveland Clinic's commitment to innovation, with devices under development such as a jaw implant to relieve headaches and an iPad app to diagnose concussions.
“The DNA of the organization is about innovation, about change, and about trying to think differently about problems and come up with solutions that may not necessarily be in the mainstream,” says the Clinic's CEO, Dr. Toby Cosgrove.
Good work:The Wall Street Journalprofiles a program called Abriendo Puertas (Opening Doors), a nationwide course that helps Latino parents improve the educational outcome of their children, that in Ohio is supported by The Gund Foundation of Cleveland.
It's a critical effort, The Journal says, because the number of Hispanic children “grew more than any other group by far over the past decade. Hispanics account for more than half of all students in the public schools of California, Texas and New Mexico — and they face big educational challenges.”
Since starting on a pilot basis in 2008, Abriendo Puertas has reached about 25,000 families in 31 states. Across the U.S. there are waiting lists.
"The response has been overwhelming," says Adrián Pedroza, executive director of Partnership for Community Action, which runs the program in Albuquerque, N.M.
Misery loves company: Normally, a company would be thrilled to be compared to Apple.
Except when it's in a story like this one from CNNMoney.com, which notes Apple's stock has fallen 42% from an all-time trading high of $705 last September to a 52-week low of $419 on Monday.
And so far this year, CNNMoney,com notes, “Apple has been among the 10 worst performing stocks in the S&P 500, alongside the likes of Cliffs Natural Resources,” which is based in Cleveland.
Glory days: The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton has scored with its “Gridiron Glory” traveling exhibit, created to celebrate the hall's 50th anniversary.
Forbes.com says it has been the hall's largest, and most successful, traveling exhibit to date. “Gridiron Glory” allows football fans to see up-close more than 200 artifacts, ranging from the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the 1892 birth certificate of football's first professional player, William (Pudge) Heffelfinger.
The website notes that financing for the project became feasible when the hall partnered with Cleveland-based Gallo, a marketing company that develops trade show exhibits.
“The most important thing is that we formed a partnership with Gallo that provided financial backing to make this exhibition happen,” says Joe Horrigan, the hall's vice president of communications/exhibits.
He tells Forbes.com that the costs thus far to host “Gridiron Glory” are approaching $2 million.
“This includes design, fabrication, structural investments, working with vendors, shipping, booking and traveling,” Mr. Horrigan says.
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